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cowardanderson16 · ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2012)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 29, 2012) ? Killer whales (Orcinus orca) are the top marine predator, wherever they are found, and seem to eat everything from schools of small fish to large baleen whales, over twice their own size. The increase in hunting territories available to killer whales in the Arctic due to climate change and melting sea ice could seriously affect the marine ecosystem balance. New research published in BioMed Central's re-launched open access journal Aquatic Biosystems has combined scientific observations with Canadian Inuit traditional knowledge to determine killer whale behaviour and diet in the Arctic.

Orca have been studied extensively in the northeast Pacific ocean, where resident killer whales eat fish, but migrating whales eat marine mammals. Five separate ecotypes in the Antarctic have been identified, each preferring a different type of food, and similar patterns have been found in the Atlantic, tropical Pacific, and Indian oceans. However, little is known about Arctic killer whale prey preference or behaviour.

Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) is increasingly being used to supplement scientific observations. Researchers from Manitoba visited 11 Canadian Nunavut Inuit communities and collated information from over 100 interviews with hunters and elders.

The Inuit reported that killer whales would 'eat whatever they can catch', mainly other marine mammals including seals (ringed, harp, bearded, and hooded) and whales (narwhal, beluga and bowhead). However there was no indication that Arctic killer whales ate fish. Only seven of the interviewees suggested that killer whales ate fish, but none of them had ever seen it themselves.

The type of reported prey varied between areas. Most incidents of killer whales eating bowhead whales occurred in Foxe Basin and narwhal predation was more frequent around Baffin Island. Inuit were also able to describe first-hand how killer whales hunted, including several reports of how killer whales co-operated to kill the much larger bowhead. During the hunt some whales were seen holding the bowhead's flippers or tail, others covering its blowhole, and others biting or ramming to cause internal damage. Occasionally dead bowheads, with bite marks and internal injuries but with very little eaten, are found by locals.

'Aarlirijuk', the fear of killer whales, influenced prey behaviour with smaller mammals seeking refuge in shallow waters or on shore and larger prey running away, diving deep, or attempting to hide among the ice. Even narwhal, which are capable of stabbing a killer whale with their tusks (although this is likely to result in the deaths of both animals), will run to shallow waters and wait until the whales give up.

Killer whales are seasonal visitors to the area and have recently started colonising Hudson Bay (possibly due to loss of summer sea ice with global warming). Local communities are reliant on the very species that the orcas like to eat. Dr Steven Ferguson from the University of Manitoba who led this research commented, "Utilising local knowledge through TEK will help scientists understand the effects of global warming and loss of sea ice on Arctic species and improve collaborative conservation efforts in conjunction with local communities."

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by BioMed Central, via AlphaGalileo.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

Steven H Ferguson, Jeff W Higdon and Kristin H Westdal, Aquatic Biosystems. Prey items and predation behavior of killer whales (Orcinus orca) in Nunavut, Canada based on Inuit hunter interviews. Aquatic Biosystems, 2012 (in press)

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/~3/bXQiFIfQ8OU/120129232818.htm

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INDIANAPOLIS ? Even the usually dour Bill Belichick was joking around as the New England Patriots arrived in Indianapolis for Super Bowl week.

At his opening news conference Sunday night, Belichick was asked if he expected some Hoosier hospitality.

"I never had too much hospitality here," he said, noting that the Patriots aren't exactly popular in Colts country, "until I went for it on fourth-and-2."

His gamble on that play at the New England 28 with 2:08 to go failed and led to the Colts' winning field goal in a 2009 regular-season game.

"Fans greeted us lots more and were awfully friendly" after that, he added.

All-Pro receiver Wes Welker wasn't familiar with the term when asked the same question.

"What is Hoosier hospitality? What does that consist of?" Welker asked to laughs before getting a full explanation from a local television reporter. "I think it will be a little strange practicing at the Colts' facility. I don't know how many people like that, but we'll be calm and polite and not try to rub it in, so I hope everyone is appreciative of it."

Belichick, dressed in a suit ? no hoodie for the coach this time ? also said All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski is "day to day" with a high left ankle sprain for next Sunday's NFL title game against the New York Giants. Gronkowski has been wearing a walking boot since being injured in the AFC title game.

"You've got to prepare for every one of these situations that come up," quarterback Tom Brady said of the possibility Gronkowski will be limited or sidelined. "You always have to have some contingency plans."

Brady knows the Giants will bring lots of heat with their pass rush, but for now he was more comforted by not having to face a local rival who frequently has put Brady on his back.

"I see Dwight Freeney's picture up there (on the stadium)," Brady said. "When you come to Indy and don't have to play him, we are very fortunate for that."

The Patriots drew about 25,000 fans to Gillette Stadium earlier Sunday for what Brady termed "a pep rally." Team owner Robert Kraft, who has had an emotional year ? his wife passed away last July and he was instrumental in resolving the NFL's lockout of the players ? was thrilled by the turnout.

"We had 25,000 people come to our stadium today to send the team off," Kraft said. "At the stadium today it was so special, the time we are in now, to have 25,000 of our fans cheer our team is a very emotional experience."

This is Kraft's sixth Super Bowl as owner, and he vividly recalled the days when the team was lucky to draw 25,000 for a game.

"I sat with those crowds. I sat in the stands for 34 years and we had one home playoff game, in 1978, which we lost to Houston," Kraft said. "And last Sunday, we were privileged to host our 15th playoff game."

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/sports/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120130/ap_on_sp_fo_ne/fbn_patriots_arrive

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The International Space Station fired its thrusters Saturday in order to steer clear of orbital debris from China's 2007 anti-satellite test.

The dodging maneuver was required to avoid space junk from the Chinese satellite Fengyun 1C, which peppered low-Earth orbit with an estimated 3,000 pieces of shrapnel when it was intentionally destroyed by China five years ago. The remaining debris has required several similar avoidance maneuvers by the space station in recent years.

Rocket thrusters on the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module fired at 6:50 p.m. EST (2350 GMT) in a 1-minute, four-second burn to slightly raise the laboratory's orbit, leaving it on a path that reaches just over 251 miles above Earth at the highest point, NASA officials said in an update.

Saturday's maneuver was "designed to place the station at the correct altitude and trajectory for future visiting vehicle activities and to avoid a repetitive coincidence of possible conjunctions with a piece of Chinese Fengyun 1C satellite debris," NASA officials explained.

A conjunction is what scientists call instances in which space debris will fly close enough to the station to cause concern. Since the space station orbits Earth at about 17,500 mph even a small piece of orbital debris can cause serious damage if it hits. [ Photos: Space Debris & Cleanup Concepts ]

The Fengyun 1C satellite debris had the potential to cause seven conjunctions with the space station, so steering the $100 billion safely into the clear was required, according to an earlier NASA update.

The space station is currently home to a six-man crew that includes three Russians, two Americans and one Dutch astronaut. NASA's Mission Control Center in Houston typically orders a dodging maneuver when debris is expected to fly inside a safety perimeter, which is shaped like a pizza box, that extends about 15 miles around the space station, as well as a half-mile above and below the orbiting lab.

When there is not enough time to plan a dodging maneuver, station astronauts can take shelter inside the Russian Soyuz vehicles that ferry them to and from the station until a piece of space junk has safely zoomed by. The Soyuz capsules, two of which are docked at the station now, each seat three people and can double as lifeboats.

Maneuvers to avoid space junk conjunctions are not uncommon for the space station and other satellites orbiting Earth.? Earlier this month, the space station fired its thrusters to avoid debris from a 2009 satellite crash between an U.S. and Russian spacecraft.

Space junk poses an ongoing threat to astronauts on the space station , as well as other satellites in orbit. To date, there are about 6,000 tons of space junk orbiting Earth ranging from tiny bolts and paint chips to huge spent rocket stages and dead satellites.

More than 500,000 pieces of space junk are currently tracked every day by NASA and the U.S. military's Space Surveillance Network in order to avoid collisions in orbit.

You can follow Tariq Malik on Twitter @tariqjmalik. Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.

Source: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46182311/ns/technology_and_science-space/

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CHICAGO -- Dana White has his mind made up. You're never going to know what UFC fighters truly make and that's just the way it has to be.

"So just because you don't know everything, you don't have to know anything, and to be honest with you? It's none of your [expletive] business how much these guys are making. They're making a lot of money. [...] How much money is none of your business. I'm not asking how much money you're making," said White (3:10 mark).

White believes that the salary information, so readily available in the other pro sports has ruined things for the athletes. He pointed to the recent $214 million megadeal inked by Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder.

"His whole life is going to change. He thought it was bad before with the (expletive) he had going on in his life? Everybody and their mother is coming after that 214," White said (2:10 mark). "Believe me when I tell you. Mark my words, Prince Fielder talk to me in five years and tell me what it was like when the news put out there that you were making $214 million dollars. I'm not going to do that to my guys."

The UFC often gets a bad rap for fighter pay because the only numbers revealed are those given to state commissions. The promotion beefs up the pay with behind-the-scenes discretionary and pay-per-view bonuses. White is often asked if all the complaints about pay would go away if Zuffa simply revealed all the details.

"Even when we sat down and had that first FOX meeting, the guys at FOX were like, holy [expletive]! They're like, 'Why don't you plaster this everywhere? This is the thing that will put you guys over the top. This is the thing that people love to see and talk about. Look at Mike Tyson.' And I said, 'Yeah, look at Mike Tyson,'" White said. "I've had these conversations with Mike. Mike said that when his money was reported, his [expletive] life was miserable. I'm not doing it."

Some believe the UFC's reluctance to be more transparent prompted the Federal Trade Commission to open an anti-trust violation investigation to look into Zuffa's practices.

"My understanding is that yes [the FTC has] opened a non-public investigation based on the acquisition we made of Strikeforce," said UFC owner Lorenzo Fertitta.

CBSSports.com's Gregg Doyel said this is a sign of awful things to come for the UFC.

The FTC vs. the UFC? That's a heavyweight fight. That's Dana White's worst nightmare. The FTC looks for antitrust violations, picking apart monopolies as the unfair bullies they are -- and as far as I'm concerned, the UFC is guilty as charged.

The story set off White.

"There was guy yesterday, he wrote this story and you could tell this thing was like 'I want some attention. I want some attention. Maybe he'll get mad and say some [expletive].' [...] When we get stories written about us like that, I know it seems like I get crazy and come off too personal ... well, [expletive] yeah it's personal! What you're saying is untrue," said White (0:51 mark).

White said everything about the promotion is on the up and up.

"If the government wants to come in and look inside and take a peak and look around, they're more than welcome," White said. "Many of you have heard stories and all kinds of things ... mark my [expletive] words right here, right now, today ... we're not going anywhere. And everything we say is true."

As far as we know the FTC is still looking at Zuffa. White certainly came off sounding very confident nothing will come from the investigation.

White pointed out that there is no sport that has been more heavily scrutinized by governments all levels. The promotion has survived and thrived to become what White called the best sports story of the last 50 years.

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/mma-cagewriter/confident-dana-white-defends-policy-confidentiality-fighter-pay-175442433.html

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October 2011 Image: Scientific American

CHEMISTRY COMMENTARY
In reading ?Toxins All around Us,? by Patricia Hunt [Forum], and the text pertaining to how the environment influences our genes in ?10 Unsolved Mysteries,? by Philip Ball, I wonder about the following: If toxins in the environment are affecting our bodies in a negative way, as Hunt in particular asserts, and if some genes that were heretofore inactive are now being reactivated in response to chemicals in the environment, as Ball refers to, might these newly activated genes allow us to evolve to cope with all these toxic exposures? Perhaps that?s what they are there for. Maybe our bodies of the future will be able to be healthy within this toxic mix.
John Maas Rua Ernesto do Oliveira
S?o Paulo, Brazil

Regarding the discussion of biofuels in ?10 Unsolved Mysteries,? you seem just as unwilling as other publications to discuss the economic law of diminishing returns. I don?t know exactly when this law became taboo, but technology-related reporting is especially notorious in this regard. Given the time and money spent researching biofuels, hybrid engines, hydrogen fuel-cell technology, and the like, it seems reasonable to suppose that, at some point, all this effort could be better spent investing in something like effective mass transit.
David R. Witzling
via e-mail

DARKNESS AND LIGHT
In ?The Dark Side of the Milky Way,? Leo Blitz states that what dark matter consists of ?remains as elusive as ever,? that the most conservative analysis is that it ?consists of an exotic particle not yet detected in particle accelerators? and that it ?reveals itself solely by its gravitational influence.?

A person familiar with the history of physics cannot help but think of the ?ether?: that equally mysterious ?substance? scientists of the 19th century supposed must exist, even though it could not be detected, to explain how light, then thought of exclusively as a wave, could propagate through space. The understanding of the dual nature of light made the ether?s existence unnecessary. We should thus not be surprised if a future, more complete theory of the nature of gravity, space and time will also render dark matter nothing more than a historic construct.
Harvey Smith
Carrollton, Tex.

Blitz replies: It remains possible that modifications to Einstein?s general theory of relativity could be responsible for the various phenomena that dark matter is invoked to explain. Nevertheless, despite the example of the ether, the history of astronomy is replete with dark objects that were later identified by other means. These include Neptune and the companion of Sirius, both of which, like dark matter, were first identified by their gravitational effects alone.

SCENT AND SENSIBILITY
While reading ?The Scent of Your Thoughts,? by Deborah Blum, I was somewhat startled to read a comment on University of Chicago researcher Martha McClintock?s ?friendly face and flyaway hair? and later a description of her clothes (?She wears a tweedy jacket over a bright, patterned shirt?). What has her appearance got to do with her considerable achievements as a scientist? I suspect that if she had been male, such comments would not have been written, and they are irrelevant, irrespective of gender. If I had read this in my local newspaper, I would have just rolled my eyes and sighed. Based on the usual standard of writing in Scientific American, such comments have no place in your journal.
Sam Vincent
Auckland, New Zealand
Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=614376c553773897681f750f2f46bba6
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NEW YORK ? In corrections systems nationwide, officials are grappling with decisions about geriatric units, hospices and medical parole as elderly inmates ? with their high rates of illness and infirmity ? make up an ever increasing share of the prison population.

At a time of tight state budgets, it's a trend posing difficult dilemmas for policymakers. They must address soaring medical costs for these older inmates and ponder whether some can be safely released before their sentences expire.

The latest available figures from 2010 show that 8 percent of the prison population ? 124,400 inmates ? was 55 or older, compared to 3 percent in 1995, according to a report being released Friday by Human Rights Watch. This oldest segment grew at six times the rate of the overall prison population between 1995 and 2010, the report says.

"Prisons were never designed to be geriatric facilities," said Jamie Fellner, a Human Rights Watch special adviser who wrote the report. "Yet U.S. corrections officials now operate old age homes behind bars."

The main reasons for the trend, Fellner said, are the long sentences, including life without parole, that have become more common in recent decades, boosting the percentage of inmates unlikely to leave prison before reaching old age, if they leave at all. About one in 10 state inmates is serving a life sentence; an additional 11 percent have sentences longer than 20 years.

The report also notes an increase in the number of offenders entering prison for crimes committed when they were over 50. In Ohio, for example, the number of new prisoners in that age group jumped from 743 in 2000 to 1,815 in 2010, according to the report.

Fellner cited the case of Leonard Hudson, who entered a New York prison at age 68 in 2002 on a murder conviction and will be eligible for parole when he's 88. He's housed in a special unit for men with dementia and other cognitive impairments, Fellner said.

A.T. Wall, director of the Rhode Island Department of Corrections and president of the Association of State Correctional Administrators, said he and his colleagues regularly exchange ideas on how to cope with the surging numbers of older prisoners.

"We are accustomed to managing large numbers of inmates, and it's a challenge to identify particular practices that need to be put into place for a subset," he said. "There are no easy solutions."

Wall said prison officials confront such questions as whether to retrofit some cells with grab bars and handicap toilets, how to accommodate inmates' wheelchairs, and how to deal with inmates who no longer understand instructions.

"Dementia can set in, and an inmate who was formerly easy to manage becomes very difficult to manage," he said.

States are trying to meet the needs. Some examples:

_Washington state opened an assisted living facility at its Coyote Ridge prison complex in 2010, with a capacity of 74 inmates. It's reserved for inmates with a disability who are deemed to pose little security risk.

_The Louisiana State Penitentiary has had a hospice program for more than a decade, staffed by fellow prisoners who provide dying inmates with care ranging from changing diapers to saying prayers.

_In Massachusetts, a new corrections master plan proposes one or more new facilities to house aging inmates who need significant help with daily living. Some critics object, saying inmates shouldn't get specialized care that might not be available or affordable for members of the public.

_Montana's corrections department is seeking bids for a 120-bed prison that would include assisted-living facilities for some elderly inmates and others who need special care.

In Texas, legislators have been considering several options for addressing the needs of infirm, elderly inmates. State Rep. Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, said no decisions have been made as the experts try to balance cost factors and public safety.

"You can't just generalize about these prisoners," he said. "Some are still extremely dangerous, some may not be.... Some you wouldn't want in the same assisted living facility with your parents or grandparents."

Fellner, who visited nine states and 20 prisons during her research, said corrections officials often were constrained by tight budgets, lack of support from elected officials, and prison architecture not designed to accommodate the elderly.

She noted that prison policies traditionally were geared to treat all inmates on an equal basis. So it may not be easy for prison officials to consider special accommodations for aging inmates, whether it be extra blankets, shortcuts to reduce walking distance, or sparing them from assignments to upper bunks.

The report said the number of aging prisoners will continue to grow unless there are changes to tough-on-crime policies such as long mandatory sentences and reduced opportunities for parole.

"How are justice and public safety served by the continued incarceration of men and women whose bodies and minds have been whittled away by age?" Fellner asked.

One of the problems facing prisons is that many of their health care staff lack expertise in caring for the elderly, according to Linda Redford, director of the geriatric education center at the University of Kansas Medical Center.

"It's a big struggle for them to keep up," said Redford, who has helped train prison staff and inmates in geriatric care.

"They're used to having to deal with issues of younger prisoners, such as HIV and substance abuse," she said.

Under a Supreme Court ruling, inmates are guaranteed decent medical care, but they lack their own insurance and states must pay the full cost. In Georgia, according to Fellner's report, inmates 65 and older had an average yearly medical cost of $8,565, compared with $961 for those under 65.

Redford said the challenges are compounded because inmates' health tends to decline more rapidly than that of other Americans of the same age due to long-term problems with drug use and poor health care.

"In the general population, 65 doesn't seem that old," Redford said. "In prison, there are 55-year-olds looking like they're 75."

Many states have adopted early release programs targeted at older inmates who are judged to pose little threat to public safety. However, a 2010 study by the Vera Institute of Justice in New York City found the laws were used infrequently, in part because of political considerations and complex review procedures.

Redford said a common problem is finding nursing homes or other assisted-living facilities that will accept released inmates who have family to live with.

"Nursing homes don't want former felons," she said. "Some states are looking at starting long-term care facilities outside prison for that could take care of parolees."

For inmates who are terminally ill and have no close family on the outside, it's probably more humane to let them die in prison if there's a hospice program available, Redford said.

"The inmates who are volunteering are at those guys' sides when they die ? they're really committed to making the last days as comfortable as possible," Redford said. "They're not going to get that on the outside."

___

Online:

Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org/

Association of State Correctional Administrators: http://www.asca.net/

___

David Crary can be followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/CraryAP

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/topstories/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_aging_america_aging_inmates

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. ? A Taiwan official has been scheduled for sentencing Friday, more than two months after she was arrested, charged and pleaded guilty to a federal labor violation accusing her of underpaying and overworking two housekeepers.

Liu Hsien Hsien, who is also known as Jacqueline Liu, pleaded guilty Nov. 18 to one count of fraud in foreign labor contracting as part of a plea agreement that also recommends a sentence of time served and immediate deportation. When the plea agreement was announced, U.S. District Judge David Gregory Kays said he would review the agreement and decide later whether to accept it.

Liu, 64, was the former director general of the Taipei Economic and Cultural Office in Kansas City, which is similar to a foreign government consulate, although the U.S. doesn't recognize Taiwan as a sovereign state. Liu has been in custody since her arrest Nov. 10 at her office in Kansas City.

Liu also agreed to pay a total of $80,044 in restitution to the two women ? one who worked for Liu last year, and another who worked for Liu at her home in suburban Kansas City from 2009 to 2010.

The U.S. Attorney's office said each housekeeper gets a portion of that amount based on 16- to 18-hour days, six and a half days a week.

Prosecutors have said they believe Liu is the first foreign official to be charged with fraud in foreign labor contracting charge in the United States. Others have been prosecuted for mistreating domestic workers, but Liu was accused of violating a law covering the recruitment of foreign workers and their transport into the United States on fraudulent terms.

Prosecutors accused Liu of telling the housekeepers they would be paid about $1,240 a month, work 40-hour weeks and would also be entitled to overtime. Instead, they say, the housekeepers were actually paid $400 to $450 a month, worked 16- to 18-hour days and were monitored with video surveillance equipment at Liu's home in Overland Park, Kan.

TECO, the office where Liu served as director general for about two years, is one of about a dozen similar offices that Taiwan has around the U.S. Taiwan has appointed a new director general for the Kansas City office, but the office did not respond to messages for comment.

Linda Trout, executive director of Kanas City's International Relations Council, said she worked with Liu on several occasions. She said the TECO office is one of two paid foreign service offices in Kansas City. Mexico is the other.

The TECO office has been instrumental in developing and maintaining trade relations between the region and Taiwan, Trout said.

"That office did a lot of work in building relations, and there's no doubt that when you look at our biggest trade partners you'd be surprised to see Taiwan up there," she said.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/crime/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20120127/ap_on_re_us/us_taiwan_official_sentence

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Paul Buck / EPA

By Access Hollywood

Oscar nominee Brad Pitt has come a long way from his early days of stardom where he battled depression and drug use.

The 48-year-old star opened up about his past struggles with The Hollywood Reporter, saying he used drugs in attempt to escape the spotlight.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Big Screen Gentlemen: Hollywood?s Leading Men

?I got really sick of myself at the end of the 1990s: I was hiding out from the celebrity thing; I was smoking way too much dope; I was sitting on the couch and just turning into a doughnut; and I really got irritated with myself,? he told THR. ?I got to: ?What?s the point? I know better than this.??

In addition to drug use, the ?Moneyball? and ?Tree of Life? star revealed he had his fair share of dark thoughts.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hollywood Dads & Their Adorable Little Ones!

?I used to deal with depression, but I don?t now, not this decade -- maybe last decade. But that?s also figuring out who you are,? he continued. ?I see it as a great education, as one of the seasons or a semester: ?This semester I was majoring in depression.? I was doing the same thing every night and numbing myself to sleep --?the same routine: Couldn?t wait to get home and hide out. But that feeling of unease was growing and one night I just said, ?This is a waste.??

Trips to Yugoslavia and Morocco in the late '90s, where the actor said he saw ?poverty to an extreme I had never witnessed before,? was the wakeup call he needed to change his life.

?I just quit. I stopped grass then -- I mean, pretty much -- and decided to get off the couch,? he recalled. (Check out Pitt below as the stoner character Floyd in the 1993 film "True Romance.")

Pitt then looked to one of music?s biggest philanthropist for inspiration.

?I sought out Bono and sat down with him a few times and got involved in some of the stuff he was doing. But it all started before that. It started with private acts,? he explained, adding that his newfound passion to help others connected him with longtime partner Angelina Jolie.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Hot Shots Of Brad Pitt!

?That may have been one of the things that brought us together,? Pitt said of Jolie. ?Certainly, I?ve met very few people more dedicated than she is. She is always studying issues, daily. She has such compassion for the people she works with.?

Looking back, Pitt is at peace with past struggles.

VIEW THE PHOTOS: Brad Pitt & Angelina Jolie

?This idea of perpetual happiness is crazy and overrated, because those dark moments fuel you for the next bright moments; each one helps you appreciate the other,? he said. ?We are all searching for meaning in our lives, love and betterment for ourselves and those around us.?

Related slideshows:

Source: http://todayentertainment.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/01/25/10234995-brad-pitt-reveals-why-he-quit-smoking-way-too-much-dope

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President Barack Obama has been taking the credit for the worldwide boon of cheap natural-gas, declining to give credit to the entrepreneurial energy industry.

?The marketplace needed a nudge here,? Obama said at a Jan. 17 meeting of his jobs and competitiveness council. ?Folks are acting as if that [boon] just sprung out of thin air and is one more example of the dynamism of the marketplace,? he complained to the executives.

Obama ?wants to take credit for anything that happens in the private sector because he wants the public to look favorably on government,? responded Dan Kish, a senior vice president for policy at the Institute for Energy Research. His gas-fracking claim ?is sort of like Al Gore [claiming credit for] inventing the Internet,? he said.

Obama?s controversial statement came only a few days before his State of the Union speech, where he said government participation in the?successful?gas-fracking industry justifies a central role for government in other energy sectors.

Fracking technology was successfully used in 1999?by a Texas entrepreneur, George Mitchell,?to extract gas from shale rock. His success has forced a worldwide drop in natural gas prices, from an average of roughly $8 per unit in the mid-2000s to a current price below $3.

That drop in price has saved people and companies worldwide many billions of dollars that are now being used for other purchases or new investments. The cheap energy is also boosting the U.S. manufacturing sector following the 2008 economic crash.

Mitchell?s breakthrough is also doing more to reduce the atmospheric release of carbon dioxide than the controversial international treaties that are championed by progressive environmental groups.

Mitchell?s entrepreneurship was aided by some federal technology and advice, but he ? not the government ? spent years and millions of his own dollars pushing his own partners, as well as federal researchers, to develop the gas-fracking technology. (RELATED: Full coverage of Barack Obama)

Mitchell tested his technology in 1999, and sold his gas-fracking business to a bigger energy company in 2001 for $3.5 billion. At the time, Obama was a state senator in Illinois.

Nonetheless, Obama said that progressive government ?nudged? ? not helped or funded ? industry towards the gas-fracking breakthrough.

Obama pitched a similar ? but softer ? credit-grabbing message in his Jan. 24 State of the Union speech.

Cheap natural gas will support more than 600,000 jobs by 2020, he declared, adding, ?by the way, it was public research dollars, over the course of 30 years, that helped develop the technologies to extract all this natural gas out of shale rock, reminding us that government support is critical in helping businesses get new energy ideas off the ground.?

Other progressives are also trying to take the credit from entrepreneurs. John Podesta, head of the Center for American Progress, declared in a Jan. 24 Wall Street Journal article that ?under President Obama?s leadership, we appear to be at the beginning of a domestic gas and oil boom.?

Obama?s grab for credit is ambitious, and is backed by the Breakthrough Institute, a progressive advocacy group. ?The federal government developed and demonstrated every significant technology that led to the shale gas revolution: Hydraulic fracking, horizontal drilling, 3D mapping and imaging,? Ted Nordhaus, a founder of the institute, told The Daily Caller.

?Without those contributions, there is no shale gas revolution, except in the counter-factual fantasies of libertarian ideologues,? he added.

Industry officials deride the progressives? grab for credit.

?The industry?s success ? [is] the result of the fortitude and perseverance of private sector companies and their shareholders, not the benevolence of? the federal government,? said one official who did not want to be identified for fear of retaliation by Obama?s deputies. ?Both in rhetoric and regulation, this administration has largely thrown roadblocks in front of the one engine that is propelling a more favorable economic outlook.?

?I don?t know of any large-scale technical developments that have been from government,? said Alan Boras, a vice-president for media relations at Encana Corp., a gas-fracking company.

Government researchers developed some basic technology that was used by industry in the fracking business, but that doesn?t allow government to claim credit for the gas boom, he said. The U.S. government also funded early development of the Internet, he added, but ?did the government develop the technology for the iPad? No, it didn?t.?

?We did at all, [without] a cent? from government, said James Hill, an executive at Gastrac, another fracking company. Gastrac is a Canadian company that was formed by veterans from energy giant Halliburton, and it has developed a newer form of fracking technology that use only small quantities of corrosive chemicals to extract natural gas from rock.

In Canada, Hill said, ?the government got out of the business of helping companies long ago.?

The attempted credit grab ?is part of the never-ending search for more power? [which] is the driving force of progressivism,? said Kish. Power is valuable, he said, because progressives ?can convert that power into everyone having to come to the government to do anything.?

Progressives constantly cast doubt on private-sector successes because they need to boost government power, Kish continued. The progressives? attitude, he said, is ?if [something] is successful, government had to have something to do with it, and if people are successful on their own, they must have done wrong or gotten something by underhanded means.?

Mitchell?s massive success still leaves many opportunities for progressives to play a role in the gas industry

?The economics are such that we don?t have to incentivize industry to extract it, but we do have to make sure the technologies are there to do it safely, where there may be some underinvestment on the private side,? Obama said on Jan. 17. On Jan. 24, he announced plans to regulate companies? use of chemicals.

The industry, however, already invests heavily in safety, partly because natural gas is explosive and can kill workers and destroy equipment, but also because lawsuits and safety violations can eat up profit.

Obama is also using his claim for credit to win a larger role for progressives in the nation?s other energy sectors.

Obama?s 2009 stimulus included about $40 billion in funds for the green-tech industry. Much of that money went to basic research, but much went to companies or consumers to temporarily subsidize the sale of solar power, high-tech batteries, battery-powered autos and other products.

The sector?s infamous poster child is now-bankrupt Solyndra, a California-based solar cell manufacturer. The firm went bankrupt in 2011 after receiving $535 million in federal loan guarantees following extensive contacts between Obama?s deputies and company advocates.

The resulting scandal has significantly damaged public support for Obama?s green-tech policies.

Now, Obama appears to be using his claim about progressives? role in the gas-fracking industry to bolster a larger role for progressives in the green-tech sector.

?The question is whether we apply that insight to things like solar and wind and other renewable energies as well? That?s where the controversy comes in,? he said on Jan. 17.

?Our experience with natural gas shows us that the payoffs on these public investments don?t always come right away,? he said in his State of the Union speech. ?Some technologies don?t pan out; some companies fail. But I will not walk away from the promise of clean energy. ? I will not cede the wind or solar or battery industry to China or Germany,? he declared.

Obama?s multi-billion dollar support for green-tech production and sales goes far beyond the government labs? traditional sharing of taxpayer-funded research and technology with eager entrepreneurs.

Even Nordhaus ? who argues that the government played a significant role in the gas-fracking sector ? criticized some of Obama?s expensive subsidies, and argued that federal funds should be focused on novel technologies, not on products.

?We think the potential for present generation renewables ? has been overhyped,? he told TheDC. ?We think that has resulted in policies that too often subsidize output from mature technologies that aren?t going to be cost-competitive? rather than subsidizing innovation.?

Amid the controversies, Obama is working to buy allies in the energy industry.

?I think having a business voice on behalf of those [renewable] investments is useful, because I think, if it is just coming from us, it can oftentimes look like we?re picking winners and losers, or that we have an overriding environmental agenda as opposed to an economic development agenda,? Obama told the business leaders on Jan. 17. ?My view has always been that these things are compatible, not contradictory.?

Obama?s attempt to entice companies to accept progressive leadership is regularly slammed by GOP leaders.

?You?ve got to stop the spread of crony capitalism,? former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney declared at the Jan. 20 South Carolina debate. Obama ?takes $500 million and sticks it into Solyndra. He stacks the labor stooges on the [National Labor Relations Board] so they can say ?no? to Boeing and take care of their friends in the labor movement? He turns down the Keystone [XL] pipeline, which would bring energy and jobs to America.? he said.

Obama?s audience at the Jan. 17 meeting included at least three business leaders who rely on government support for green tech.

One was the council?s chairman, Jeff Immelt, CEO of General Electric (GE), which is trying to win a large role in the green-energy market.

GE lobbied for Obama?s very ambitious ?cap and trade? bill, but the bill was defeated by GOP opposition. However, the GOP failed to stop a 2008 federal mandate that bars the sale of cheap incandescent bulbs. The mandate requires consumers to buy high-profit, low-power bulbs, which are made by GE and other companies.

?I?m still scratching my head on that whole light bulb [controversy]? I thought it was a pretty good idea, and Jeff did too, because he?s making them,? Obama said at the meeting.

Another attendee was Lewis Hay, the CEO of NextEra Energy, Inc., which is the largest renewable energy generator in North America. Hay urged Obama to continue federal spending on renewable-energy programs, despite the political controversy over Solyndra and other government-subsidized green-tech products.

?I?m shocked there is a little controversy in this area ? its a little disappointing,? Obama responded, prompting more laughter from the CEOs and investors.

If progressives ?thought they could take credit for a sunny day,? Kish said, ?they would try.?

Join the conversation

Read more stories from The Daily Caller

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/obama/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/dailycaller/20120125/pl_dailycaller/obamaclaimscreditforcheapnaturalgas

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cowardanderson16 · ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012)

ScienceDaily (Jan. 25, 2012) ? Researchers working at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory have used the world's most powerful X-ray laser to create and probe a 2-million-degree piece of matter in a controlled way for the first time. This feat, reported in Nature, takes scientists a significant step forward in understanding the most extreme matter found in the hearts of stars and giant planets, and could help experiments aimed at recreating the nuclear fusion process that powers the sun.

The experiments were carried out at SLAC's Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), whose rapid-fire laser pulses are a billion times brighter than those of any X-ray source before it. Scientists used those pulses to flash-heat a tiny piece of aluminum foil, creating what is known as "hot dense matter," and took the temperature of this solid plasma -- about 2 million degrees Celsius. The whole process took less than a trillionth of a second.

"The LCLS X-ray laser is a truly remarkable machine," said Sam Vinko, a postdoctoral researcher at Oxford University and the paper's lead author. "Making extremely hot, dense matter is important scientifically if we are ultimately to understand the conditions that exist inside stars and at the center of giant planets within our own solar system and beyond."

Scientists have long been able to create plasma from gases and study it with conventional lasers, said co-author Bob Nagler of SLAC, an LCLS instrument scientist. But no tools were available for doing the same at solid densities that cannot be penetrated by conventional laser beams.

"The LCLS, with its ultra-short wavelengths of X-ray laser light, is the first that can penetrate a dense solid and create a uniform patch of plasma -- in this case a cube one-thousandth of a centimeter on a side -- and probe it at the same time," Nagler said.

The resulting measurements, he said, will feed back into theories and computer simulations of how hot, dense matter behaves. This could help scientists analyze and recreate the nuclear fusion process that powers the sun.

"Those 60 hours when we first aimed the LCLS at a solid were the most exciting 60 hours of my entire scientific career," said Justin Wark, leader of the Oxford group. "LCLS is really going to revolutionize the field, in my view."

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Story Source:

The above story is reprinted from materials provided by DOE/SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

Journal Reference:

S. M. Vinko, O. Ciricosta, B. I. Cho, K. Engelhorn, H.-K. Chung, C. R. D. Brown, T. Burian, J. Chalupsk?, R. W. Falcone, C. Graves, V. H?jkov?, A. Higginbotham, L. Juha, J. Krzywinski, H. J. Lee, M. Messerschmidt, C. D. Murphy, Y. Ping, A. Scherz, W. Schlotter, S. Toleikis, J. J. Turner, L. Vysin, T. Wang, B. Wu, U. Zastrau, D. Zhu, R. W. Lee, P. A. Heimann, B. Nagler, J. S. Wark. Creation and diagnosis of a solid-density plasma with an X-ray free-electron laser. Nature, 2012; DOI: 10.1038/nature10746

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120125132612.htm

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cowardanderson16

The European Union has raised the takes in the standoff over Iran's nuclear program. E.U. foreign ministers on Monday adopted the most far-reaching package of sanctions yet on the Islamic Republic, including an embargo on the oil exports that are Iran's economic lifeline, and measures against the country's central bank that will restrict its ability to engage in international trade. European governments have now adopted an immediate ban on all new oil contracts with Iran, and a gradual phase-out of existing contracts between now and July 1. The measures also ban trade in all petrochemical products, gold, precious metals, diamonds, banknotes and coins.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the oil embargo was part of "an unprecedented set of sanctions," and he urged Iran to "come to its senses" and resume negotiations on its nuclear program. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said the concern underlying the new measures was "not a question of security in the region, it is a question of security in the world." And E.U. foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the sanctions aimed to "make sure that Iran takes seriously our request to come to the table". Although Iranian officials have signaled a readiness to hold new talks, Ashton says Tehran has yet formally responded to the?letter she sent in October calling for a new meeting between Iran and the group known as the P5+1, comprising the U.S., Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China.

Adopting the new measures carries a significant cost for Europe. The top European customers for Iranian oil are also those currently facing the most serious financial crises: Greece buys about one third of its oil imports from Iran, while Italy and Spain each rely on Tehran for a little over 10% of their own supply. Although Saudi Arabia and other suppliers are expected to fill any shortfall in available output, the International Energy Agency has warned that replacing Iranian oil will not be an easy task for Europe.

(MORE: Amid New Sanctions, Obama Confronts the Challenges of Diplomacy With Iran)

But the key question is the effect sanctions will have on Iran. Oil accounts for around 90% of all Iranian exports to the E.U., and European countries together make up Tehran's second largest market after China. More broadly, oil makes up over three-quarters of Iran's total economic output, and the country sells roughly 2.5 million barrels a day, with Europe accounting for about one quarter of it last year. Indeed, Iran is already suffering from the existing European and American sanctions: the Iranian rial has fallen about 40% against the dollar since December, inflation is at 40%, and youth unemployment is at around 50%.?

One way Iran may try to offset the impact of the European embargo is by selling more oil to China, India and other Asian countries, inducing them by offering major discounts -- a possibility made easier for Iran while the price remains above $100 per barrel. For that reason, Western powers hope to persuade Asian countries to reduce their own purchases from Iran.?

Yet all this effort may still fail to dissuade Iran from pursuing its nuclear ambitions. Sanctions are often a blunt political instrument: Even if they succeed in imposing significant costs on the regime and exacerbating public frustration over economic hardships, they could further entrench Tehran's regime and its intransigence. Says Paul Stevens, a Senior Research Fellow at the London-based Chatham House think tank,? "Given the crucial role of oil in Iran's deepest political DNA, the E.U. embargo would put the population solidly behind the current regime. It would greatly strengthen the Ahmadinejad regime at a time when it is under considerable pressure, especially with parliamentary elections looming in March."

(PHOTOS: Iranian Protesters Storm British Embassy)

The new sanctions come just as a US naval flotilla accompanied by British and French warships is patrolling the Strait of Hormuz, inevitably ratcheting up tensions. Two Iranian lawmakers on Monday responded to the E.U. decision by threatening to close the Strait, through which some 40% of the world's oil shipments pass en route to market. Despite the new sanctions, however, some analysts maintain Tehran is more likely to heed the threat of military action. European Council on Foreign Relations policy fellow Richard Gowan warns, "It's hard to believe that these sanctions will cause Iran to discard its nuclear ambitions. Iran will remain much more focused on decision-making in Israel and the U.S. over the possibility of a military strike this year."

E.U. officials accept that sanctions are no silver bullet. But coupled with robust diplomacy and a credible military presence in the region, they believe economic pressures can create diplomatic leverage. The problem for the West is what happens if Iran fails to buckle as sanctions reach their peak.?

J?rg Himmelreich, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund in Berlin says the measures can only buy time. "At best, sanctions might force a change of regime, but not the nuclear program, which reflects a widely-shared sense national pride and self-consciousness," he says. "It may be pessimistic, but I see the next step as accepting Iran as a nuclear power." If that is the way the Iran conundrum is heading, Europe's sanctions may simply be the last throw of the dice.

PHOTOS: Smuggling Between Iran and Iraq

View this article on Time.com

A Rice University research team makes graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), along with other funding agencies, helped a Rice University research team make graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applicationsespecially the promise of advanced chemical sensors, nanoscale electronic circuits and metamaterials.

Ever since the University of Manchester's Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking graphene experiments, there has been an explosion of graphene related discoveries; but graphene experimentation had been ongoing for decades and many ultimate graphene associated breakthroughs were already well under way in various labs when the Nobel committee acknowledged the significance of this new wonder material.

And one such laboratory was Dr. James Tour's at Rice, whose team found a way to attach various organic molecules to sheets of graphene, making it suitable for a range of new applications. Starting with graphene's two-dimensional atomic scale honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, the Rice team built upon previous graphene community discoveries to transform graphene's one sheet structure into a superlattice.

While carbon is a key part in most organic chemical reactions, graphene poses a problem in that it plays an inert rolenot responding to organic chemical reactions. The Rice team solved this dilemma by treating graphene with hydrogen. This classic hydrogenation process restructured the graphene honeycomb lattice into a two-dimensional, semiconducting superlattice called graphane.

The hydrogenation process can then be tailored to make particular patterns in the superlattice to be followed by the attachment of mission specific molecules to where those hydrogen molecules are located. These mission specific molecular catalysts allow for the possibility of a wide variety of functionality. They can not only be used as the basis for creating graphene-based organic chemistry, but tailored for electronics and optics applications, as well as novel types of metamaterials for nanoengineering highly efficient thermoelectric devices and sensors for various chemicals or pathogens. The beauty of this process is the promise it holds for future devices with the ability to efficiently accomplish a wide variety of highly sophisticated functions in one small affordable device.

Dr. Charles Lee, the AFOSR program manager who funded this research, notes that graphene chemistry in general can enable smart materials for many special applications and that this latest effort in particular can contribute to future electronics applications and may be a way to arrive at faster and less energy consuming electronics.

###

ABOUT AFOSR:

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, located in Arlington, Virginia, continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.

Like AFOSR on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with all of our highlighted research and 60th anniversary events.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Graphene: Impressive capabilities on the horizon Public release date: 24-Jan-2012
[ | E-mail | Share ]
Contact: Dr. Robert White
robert.white@afosr.af.mil
703-588-0665
Air Force Office of Scientific Research

A Rice University research team makes graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR), along with other funding agencies, helped a Rice University research team make graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applicationsespecially the promise of advanced chemical sensors, nanoscale electronic circuits and metamaterials.

Ever since the University of Manchester's Andre Geim and Konstantin Novoselov received the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for their groundbreaking graphene experiments, there has been an explosion of graphene related discoveries; but graphene experimentation had been ongoing for decades and many ultimate graphene associated breakthroughs were already well under way in various labs when the Nobel committee acknowledged the significance of this new wonder material.

And one such laboratory was Dr. James Tour's at Rice, whose team found a way to attach various organic molecules to sheets of graphene, making it suitable for a range of new applications. Starting with graphene's two-dimensional atomic scale honeycomb lattice of carbon atoms, the Rice team built upon previous graphene community discoveries to transform graphene's one sheet structure into a superlattice.

While carbon is a key part in most organic chemical reactions, graphene poses a problem in that it plays an inert rolenot responding to organic chemical reactions. The Rice team solved this dilemma by treating graphene with hydrogen. This classic hydrogenation process restructured the graphene honeycomb lattice into a two-dimensional, semiconducting superlattice called graphane.

The hydrogenation process can then be tailored to make particular patterns in the superlattice to be followed by the attachment of mission specific molecules to where those hydrogen molecules are located. These mission specific molecular catalysts allow for the possibility of a wide variety of functionality. They can not only be used as the basis for creating graphene-based organic chemistry, but tailored for electronics and optics applications, as well as novel types of metamaterials for nanoengineering highly efficient thermoelectric devices and sensors for various chemicals or pathogens. The beauty of this process is the promise it holds for future devices with the ability to efficiently accomplish a wide variety of highly sophisticated functions in one small affordable device.

Dr. Charles Lee, the AFOSR program manager who funded this research, notes that graphene chemistry in general can enable smart materials for many special applications and that this latest effort in particular can contribute to future electronics applications and may be a way to arrive at faster and less energy consuming electronics.

###
ABOUT AFOSR:

The Air Force Office of Scientific Research, located in Arlington, Virginia, continues to expand the horizon of scientific knowledge through its leadership and management of the Air Force's basic research program. As a vital component of the Air Force Research Laboratory, AFOSR's mission is to discover, shape and champion basic science that profoundly impacts the future Air Force.

Like AFOSR on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to stay up-to-date with all of our highlighted research and 60th anniversary events.

[ | E-mail | Share ]
?

AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system.

Source: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2012-01/afoo-gic012412.php
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cowardanderson16

On Saturday, January 21 Playboy and Bombay Sapphire presented the Imaginative Filmmakers Spotlight during the Sundance Film Festival. The cocktail reception, dinner and short film presentation honored Andy Nguyen as the Playboy Bombay Sapphire Short Series winner. The event was hosted by Anthony Mackie, and attended by guests including: Nia Vardalos, Scott Wolf, David Burtka, [...]

Source: http://www.celebritymound.com/playboy-at-sundance/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=playboy-at-sundance

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cowardanderson16

KANO (Reuters) ? Gun and bomb attacks by Islamist insurgents in the northern Nigerian city of Kano last week killed at least 178 people, a hospital doctor said on Sunday, underscoring the challenge President Goodluck Jonathan faces to prevent his country sliding further into chaos.

A coordinated series of bomb blasts and shooting sprees mostly targeting police stations Friday sent panicked residents of Nigeria's second biggest city of more than 10 million people running for cover.

The scale of the carnage makes this by far the deadliest strike claimed by Boko Haram, a shadowy Islamist sect that started out as a clerical movement opposed to western education but has become the biggest security menace facing Africa's top oil producer.

"We have 178 people killed in the two main hospitals," the senior doctor in Kano's Murtala Mohammed hospital said following Friday's attacks, citing records from his own and the other main hospital of Nasarawa.

"There could be more, because some bodies have not yet come in and others were collected early."

The streets were quiet Sunday in Kano, a vast metropolis of wide paved highways, normally buzzing with motorbikes, and sandy alleyways where hawkers sell grilled meat and donkeys pull carts heaped with fruit and vegetables.

Churches, which would usually be filled with worshippers in the religiously mixed city, were largely empty.

Jonathan, a Christian from the south, travelled to Kano on Sunday, visiting hospitals to speak to victims.

"Our coming today is to express our condolence to the good people of Kano over the dastardly acts," Jonathan said at the palace of the Emir, the city's Muslim figurehead.

"Those causing havoc will never succeed ... The federal government will not rest until the perpetrators are brought to book. We will not rest until these terrorist are wiped out," said Jonathan, wearing a traditional northern Nigerian kaftan and hat.

Boko Haram has been blamed for killing hundreds of people in increasingly sophisticated bombings and shootings, mostly targeting security forces, establishment figures and more recently Christians, in the country of 160 million people split roughly evenly between them and Muslims.

MORE ATTACKS ON SUNDAY

Apart from a handful of forays into the capital Abuja, the sect's energies have been concentrated in the majority Muslim north, far from the oil producing facilities along the southern coast that keep Africa's second biggest economy afloat.

A further 10 people were killed Sunday in Bauchi state, which neighbors Kano, when police fought gunmen attempting to rob a bank, the police said. Boko Haram robbed several banks last year to fund its insurgency.

"In the early hours of today gunmen killed 10 people at a military checkpoint and a nearby hotel at Tafawa Balewa local government area," police commissioner Ikechukwu Aduba told Reuters.

"One police officer, an army corporal and eight civilians (were killed) after gunmen were earlier repelled from robbing a bank."

Explosions also struck two churches in Bauchi Sunday, witnesses said, destroying one of them completely, although there were no immediate reports of casualties.

The government has announced a dusk-to-dawn curfew in Kano, an ancient city that was once part of an Islamic caliphate trading riches on caravan routes connecting sub-Saharan Africa with the Mediterranean.

Jonathan, who helped broker a deal that largely ended an insurgency by militants in the oil-rich southeast in 2009, has been criticized for failing to grasp the gravity of the crisis unfolding in the north, and of treating it as a pure security issue that will fizzle out by itself.

Worsening insecurity has led some to question whether Nigeria isn't sliding into civil war, 40 years after the secessionist Biafra conflict killed over a million people, though few think an all-out war splitting the country into two or more pieces is a likely outcome.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attacks and called for "swift and transparent investigations" into the killings. European powers and the African Union have also condemned the attacks.

SECT CHANGING

Boko Haram became active around 2003 in the remote, northeastern state of Borno, on the threshold of the Sahara, but its attacks have spread into other northern states, including Yobe, Kano, Bauchi and Gombe.

Boko Haram, a Hausa term meaning "Western education is sinful," is loosely modeled on Afghanistan's Taliban, but analysts say the anger it channels reflects a perception that the north has been marginalized from oil riches concentrated in the south.

The sect originally said it wanted sharia, Islamic law, to be applied more widely across Nigeria but its aims appear to have changed. Recent messages from its leaders have said it is attacking anyone who opposes it, at present mainly police, the government and Christian groups.

"Since 2009 it is an insurgency that has gathered pace almost in slow motion, incrementally - apparently absorbed and accommodated with no clear evidence that government has the capacity, competence or will to turn the tide," said Antony Goldman, head of Nigeria-focused PM Consulting.

"Boko Haram was a work in progress when (former President) Obasanjo, who had a deserved 'no nonsense' reputation, was in power; and it was Yar'Adua, a Muslim President, who ordered a bloody crackdown in 2009. It was a difficult inheritance for Jonathan but the problems have only grown more complex."

Boko Haram's attacks have become increasingly deadly in the last few months.

At least 65 people were killed in the northeast Nigerian city of Damaturu, Yobe state, in a spate of gun and bomb attacks in November.

A bomb attack on a Catholic church just outside the capital Abuja on Christmas Day, claimed by Boko Haram, killed 37 people and wounded 57.

In a Reuters interview in late December, National Security Adviser General Owoye Andrew Azazi said officials are considering making contact with moderate members of shadowy sect via "back channels," even though explicit talks are officially ruled out.

(Additional reporting by Joe Brock in Abuja; Writing by Tim Cocks; Editing by Giles Elgood)

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/world/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120122/wl_nm/us_nigeria_violence

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cowardanderson16

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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

What do killer whales eat in the Arctic?

Gingrich: Romney's Character Is "Very Serious Problem" (ABC News)

Monday, January 30, 2012

Belichick, Brady in cheerful mood at arrival (AP)

Space station dodges Chinese satellite debris

Sunday, January 29, 2012

A confident Dana White defends policy of confidentiality on fighter pay and welcomes government scrutiny

Readers Respond to "Toxins All Around Us" and Other Articles

Saturday, January 28, 2012

Prison dilemma: surging numbers of older inmates (AP)

Sentencing set in KC for Taiwan official (AP)

Friday, January 27, 2012

Brad Pitt on quitting 'way too much dope'

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Obama claims credit for cheap natural gas (Daily Caller)

World's most powerful X-ray laser creates 2-million-degree matter

Can Europe Oil Embargo Force Iran to Back Down on Nuclear Program? (Time.com)

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Mozambique: Storms, floods kill 22 (AP)

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

In the wake of Megaupload crackdown, fear forces similar sites to shutter sharing services?

Graphene: Impressive capabilities on the horizon

A Rice University research team makes graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications

A Rice University research team makes graphene suitable for a variety of organic chemistry applications

Monday, January 23, 2012

Playboy at Sundance

Islamist insurgents kill over 178 in Nigeria's Kano (Reuters)

Health Insurance ? Benefits of Private Care | Forschen Ohne Grenzen